Sir Ian McKellen, fresh from his performance as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, is Prospero, and heads a strong cast in Shakespeare’s last great play. The wronged duke raises a tempest to shipwreck his old opponents on his island so that he can ensure justice is done. With Emilia Fox as Miranda, Scott Handy in the pivotal role of the sprite Ariel, and Ben Owukwe as Caliban.

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Publisher's Summary

Sir Ian McKellen, fresh from his performance as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, is Prospero, and heads a strong cast in Shakespeare’s last great play. The wronged duke raises a tempest to shipwreck his old opponents on his island so that he can ensure justice is done. With Emilia Fox as Miranda, Scott Handy in the pivotal role of the sprite Ariel, and Ben Owukwe as Caliban, this new production, directed by John Tydeman, balances the magic and the earthiness, with music playing a key role.

No, because I don't enjoy Shakespeare. I had to read it for a literature course.

Would you ever listen to anything by William Shakespeare again?

If forced.

Any additional comments?

This narration saved my grade! I just can't get into Shakespeare. Somehow the actors made the story flow for me. Even though I didn't care for the story, I made it through with ease. I had excellent comprehension in just one listen. Normally it would have taken me several readings to translate the Shakespearian verse into something that makes sense to me. No need with this performance. Thank you for making this!

If you enjoy Shakespeare's comedies you should not miss out on this edition of The Tempest. Sir Ian McKellen as Prospero is everything you might hope for and more, which is no surprise from an actor of his caliber. The remainder of the cast excels similarly and the recording is produced seamlessly. This audio performance is a real treat.

This is a perfectly decent recording of The Tempest. Sir Ian is an excellent Prospero and the rest of the cast are competent, although the Caliban is a bit awkward, The sound quality is a little murky sometimes.

A wonderful performance of "The Tempest". I particularly enjoyed Ian McKellen and Emilia Fox as Prospero and Miranda.

I believe this is a recording of an actual performance and that is the cause of my one complaint. There are very few or no clues to distinguish between Sebastian and Antonio. To my ear, their voices are close enough that it's a bit difficult sometimes to separate the two. (In the actual performance this wouldn't have been an issue.) Since I'm familiar with the play, it didn't bother me too much, but it did throw me a bit at first.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Tempest to be better than the print version?

I purchased this to "hear along" as I read the text. Although the performances really bring the characters to life, it may be hard to follow without the text in front of you.

Any additional comments?

I hesitated to buy this because other reviewers complained about storm noise, etc. That is really only an issue in the very first scene, and the speech is clear enough over the storm. (And, let's be honest: the play is "The Tempest"; the title incident deserves to be heard a bit, right?) The bulk of it is good, clear speech with music interspersed to indicate scene changes and/or the coming and going of spirits (especially Ariel).

I love William Shakespeare, and obviously The Tempest is one of his greatest plays, so I didn't have a problem with that. The reason for such a low rating is purely how book was presented. The background noises was very loud, distracting, and annoying. Then when it came to the speakers I could hardly hear what they were saying! I had bought this book on audible because I thought hearing Shakespeare read out loud would be enjoyable, but instead I found myself cringing every time I turned it on because I was wondering if there was going to be anther part were tons of people were loudly screaming franticly in the background. And usually there was. I have absolutely no idea what was being said in the book. I got the general idea from the bits and pieces I heard, but I'm going to have to actually buy The Tempest in print to read to know what was going on.

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